1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a case for rod-shaped objects, especially for pens or instruments for writing, drawing, painting, marking or cosmetics, comprised of at least one receptacle and a closure part, wherein both parts are articulated to one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a case, for example, is known from German patent document 39 21 781, published on Jan. 10, 1991. The xe2x80x9chard plastic casexe2x80x9d disclosed in this document has a foldable lid which is articulated on the case such that a guide pin glides in a guide groove when the lid is pivoted to thereby provide a supported positioning of the lid. In this configuration the removal position or the slanted position of the case results from the design of the guide groove and the movement of the lid bearing. Overall, this is a relatively expensive case design with very limited positioning possibilities.
From Japanese patent document GM/AS 53-6516, published on Feb. 18, 1978, it is known to provide a so-called soft plastic case with a reinforcement in the area of the closure part or a cover in order to thus provide a support when the closure part is folded downwardly. This support makes it possible to position the case at a slant in a preferred removal position. A carrying strap is designed to provide an additional securing action for the removal position. This configuration provides a relative expensive solution, even though the case in itself is basically inexpensive. This solution is moreover unstable, and it is not apparent how a safe fixation in the removal position could result.
For both cases it is also not apparent whether and how they can be filled by machines, i.e., automatically, if needed.
Moreover, in the German patent document 19823215 A1, published on Dec. 2, 1999, a method for producing a container for elongate objects is disclosed wherein the container is in the form of a case comprised of a downwardly pointing front part and a bottom part produced by stamping and subsequent welding, wherein a stamped separating line that can be pulled open separates the front part into a top member and a bottom member. The case is to be filled before the front part and the bottom part are welded together. The top member is furthermore dividable into a cover strap and a grip strap wherein the grip strap can be used optionally as a support member to erect the case. Since in the illustration of this embodiment the cover strap required for erecting the case is considerably longer than the pivotable grip strap, a safe erect position is not provided. Instead, it appears that this case cannot ensure any safe erect position so that without any further information in this respect no useful teaching as regards an erecting aid is provided. Moreover, since such cases are still processed with exposure to heat or by other welding or gluing techniques, there is also the risk of damaging or additionally soiling sensitive writing or drawing pens filled with ink during the welding process.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, stable but still automatically fillable case for rod-shaped objects, which allows easy filling with the objects and easy removal of the objects therefrom but still secures the objects safely and embodies or has moreover an effective auxiliary means for positioning in a removal-friendly position, respectively, for erecting the case, for example, at the workplace.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the closure part is connected with the receptacle by means of a defined folding hinge in an articulated and foldable manner, in that the closure part is divided and embodied to be folded open and is comprised of a top closure and a bottom closure part, and in that the top and bottom closure parts are foldably connected with another by a defined closure hinge and are arranged to be pivotable relative to one another.
Further details and developments of the suggested solution are explained in the following description of the preferred embodiments.